Category Archives: Physics

I first learned to calculate energy consumption in Physics, and then a day later, I learned to calculate the cost of energy usage in AP Environmental Science. This kind of cross-learning is what I love about taking two science courses at the same time; being able to apply knowledge learned from one classroom to a concept in another class.

However, education system at my school actually encourages separation of these classes; most students only take one science at a time instead of taking a combination of Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Environmental Science at the same time, even though they all correlate. While we have the ability to choose our classes, what we take is pretty much dictated prior to us choosing. When I signed up to take two sciences, I was first turned away and to come back if there are additional spots in the classes. High schools have to satisfy colleges by meeting the class requirements for a high school student, so they cannot guarantee double science or math classes until all students had satisfied the requirements.

Teachers expect us to hold on to what we learned from previous years, but come on, let’s be honest here. I hardly remember anything from Biology, my science class from freshman year, besides the basic photosynthesis/ respiration process and body systems, so it’s quite difficult to apply my dusty knowledge from that class to what I am learning now. By taking classes that overlap, it further cements the concepts into our minds, turning knowledge into wisdom, or application of knowledge. This is difficult to do so when you cannot remember what you learned years ago, or when you have not yet taken the class that teaches the information. Therefore, our school districts should consider investing in providing more classes so that students can choose to take a wider variety of classes at the same time.